I was very surprised that Michael killed Simon the way he did.
I assume michael would let simon die through inaction.
But the way it happened was a total shock.
Probably for me the biggest of the series.

FIRST OFF THIS WHOLE COMMENT IS GOING TO BE ONE BIG MASSIVE SPOILER OF NOT ONLY THIS EPISODE BUT THE ENTIRE SEASON, NEARLY. I'M NOT GOING TO BUT IT ALL IN A SPOILER TAG BECUASE IT IS TOO MUCH, AND WOULD BE KINDA ANNOYING TO SEE THIS HUGE ASS BLOCK OF ORANGE. SORRY IF THIS UPSETS YOU.

Okay, so, it seems there are mixed opinions as to Michael betraying the CIA and, what is seems like is going to happen, join James and Sonya.

I'll put it out there: I like James and Sonya's - what is it? - organization(?) since michael did the first job for them. They believe in something, and they care about their people, even if the person is at the bottom of the ranks in their organization. They will save friendlies, even if it risks their own life. They destroy monsters, as James said. I know not all of what they do is right and moral, by our standards, but, as Michael said, they stand for something. Something they truly and deeply believe in. Something they will fight and die for. And that makes them very different from the other bad guys we've seen in the series.

The CIA is willing to use a monster. A monster that nearly blew up half a city and ruined Michael's career, and has done terrible terrible things. A monster that James and co. would take take. And that makes them something very different than what Michael thought they were.

Michael believes in what is right. By using Simon, the CIA has proven they are willing to do immoral things to take down who they believe are immoral people. Michael realizes that they're not the white knight he believed them to be.

James and co. prove their loyalty to their people. The CIA lets their people die if they're going to accomplish the mission.

As such, James and co. are now the good guys in Michaels eyes.

And, judging from the writing, they're supposed to be the good guys in the viewer's eyes as well.

But, truth be told, neither are good or bad. They're both as evil and corrupt as the other.

You don't need to spoiler-tag anything from previous episodes or the current one in that episode's discussion thread. (The only thing that needs to be spoiler-tagged in the thread is spoilers from future episodes, or discussion of the preview - or speculation based on the preview.)

Honestly, I don't think the organization is that bad. They are brutal in their tactics, sure, but so is the CIA. I mean what has the organization done that's all that bad? You know where you stand with them at least. They protect their own fiercely. I like the idea of Mike going to their side.

I might agree if it didn't undermine the entire theme of the show.
If this was an HBO show I could see Michael turning his back on the CIA. However at the end of the show Michaels inner monologue will go something like " sometimes even when you support the mission , your loyalty is to your country , your family , and even if its wrong , you do the right thing for them."

The entire theme of the show, for the most part, is "Is what you're doing right/moral". At Michael and co are going to have to face that question head-on in the series finale. I can understand why so many people seem to think Michael didn't mean that finale monologue, and wouldn't turn his back on the CIA, but look at how he has felt towards the CIA during this season. They got Fiona involved many times when Michael didn't want him to, and he was very upset. He definitly doesn't feel the same about the CIA as he has in previous seasons.

It's an understandable tipping point. He's worked his whole life for an organization he's seen as the ultimate good guys. Even though there were some bad eggs (Card, Larry) along the way, he genuinely believed in the CIA. Now, they're willing to work with Simon and do all this horrible stuff. Suddenly, Sonya and James don't seem so bad.

The genuine belief in the CIA made no sense to me. We were introduced to Micheal Weston when he is paying off terrorists. Why would he be surprised that the CIA would deal with bad people? He is an old agent, he knows how the game is played. His surprise that the CIA is willing to use a tool like Simon, was really out of character. I can understand being surprised to see Simon, but blown away by the fact they would make use of such a useful asset? I just don't see it.

That's what I'm thinking, however does Mike throw everything else away to go live/work with Sonya in Rio? Does Sonya even want to anymore after he betrayed her, even though he also saved her life (which she hasn't realized yet)?

When he stopped her and James from going out the front door at the boat warehouse to their inevitable capture. And I don't think that she hasn't realized it, I think she just doesn't care because of the scale of Mike's betrayal.

As I see it, she's been playing Mike more coldly than he's been playing her. After all, she initially slept with him to get his guard down so she could taze him and drag him to James for torture/interrogation.

Maybe the second time is because she now actually trusts him and wants a relationship with someone she shares a lot with (like James' mission). Or maybe she was just enjoying some sex with the primary objective of increasing Mike's loyalty to her and the organization.

I think this was bound to happen. Since day 1, I think deep down he's been having doubts about how "good" the CIA actually is. He did missions with Larry and how the CIA sanctioned such things. He was brain washed to believe that what he was doing was good, but in reality he probably just got an envelope with orders and no reason for those orders (This makes good sense in a military structure for optimal efficiency, but it takes it's toll on a conscientious person.) And then he sees James who is told he is bad because he is highly devoted to his cause (to Michael he sees no difference between himself and james, he had to kill people innocent people in kiev for what he thought was right.) and the tipping point was really it. Freeing Simon because he's a tool really just clicked in his mind that he has really just been a tool (Simon said that, and he lost it). I assume all the time he was a part of the CIA he really must have thought that he was more than a tool. James made him feel a part of that, he targeted truly bad guys and helped to his best ability those that were trying to do good (this made Michael see a bit of himself in James). James came back, whereas the CIA would have left him hanging (cough does anyone remember the first episode). spoiler

He may be a tool; but deep down; I don't think Michael sees himself as James' tool. Considering James always comes back for him; where if Simon would have killed Michael, the CIA would have left him and completed the mission.

The previous three or four episodes have been trying to accomplish what this one finally did -- make me believe that Michael's loyalties are divided. Before, when he let James shoot the guy who left Fi for dead -- he really didn't have any choice or power in that situation. James was going to do what he was going to do. But now, Michael sees that his CIA boss is willing to employ monsters and leave people behind, but James kills people like Simon and leaves no one behind.

I think James's reason for letting Michael live (there are too many episodes left for Michael to die in this situation) is that Michael saved James and Sonya at the boathouse, and that he only ever infiltrated James' organization in order to rescue his friends -- which is a motivation James can totally understand.

What Michael is forgetting right now is that James has killed some people who weren't actually monsters, but were just accidentally in the way of getting to a monster. So he's no better than the CIA.

The only work that Michael has done that he can feel really good about is the work he did with Fi, Sam, and Jesse, using his CIA and special forces skills to help people who needed it. (Those were also the most entertaining episodes, IMO, although granted not enough to propel the series.) I hope he eventually comes around and realizes he should have listened to Fi all along -- forget the CIA and be happy doing work he knows is valuable and that is being done ethically.

Only niggle about that line: HRG didn't even know of his existence until a few episodes ago when Mike got Nathan to off-hand remark that he was working for someone. Sloppy writing or bad delivery? Not sure.

And since I brought up Heroes: Loved that line that HRG said about meeting old friends when talking about Nathan. No idea if it was meant to be that way but it was cool nonetheless.

Or maybe he thinks he can still salvage something from this? I mean, he knew James and Sonia would have gone down in a blaze of gunfire before ever getting captured, so them walking out the door wouldn't have ended well. Maybe he thinks he can still setup some kind of ambush or something.

Either way, I don't buy his little speech. I don't mean he didn't believe what he was saying to some extent, but I think that was all for show.

This was amazing!
In the final few minutes of this episode, they've captured one of the biggest questions in morality that I think everyone should ask themselves at some point: "Is what I'm doing actually the right/just thing to do? Are my moral beliefs consistent with reality, or do I hold beliefs that are, in some way, detrimental to the world/people around me?"

Michael is at a point where he's asked himself this very question. The answer he's come to, whether he's actually decided to join James or still trying to finish the mission for the CIA, that''s what we'll be seeing in the coming episodes.

So... James is perfectly willing to shoot his long time partner who helped set this whole organization up over little more than a suspicion, and then he lets Michael, someone who ACTUALLY betrayed him, live.

I felt like this episode was great, but it had a lot of little annoying inconsistencies that I couldn't get over. :/

But hey, 2 more episodes left and I'm still pretty fucking excited. :D

It wasn't ''little more than a suspicion'' him and Sonya were the only ones who knew about the setting of the place, so without thinking Michael had betrayed him, he went to the only option, he knows he didn't tell anyone, and Sonya is the only other one who knew.

He's also believing Michael about what he said about James and his organization. About them believing in something. So he's either realized that Michael is actually in for it this time, or he's just falling for another Michael Westen trap. Either way, this show is going out with a bang!

I still don't think Mike is in with James like a lot of people here do. I know a lot of people want him to side with James and even though Michael's reasoning's for not leading them out into the ambush at the boathouse perfectly make sense as far as it not being what Mike always believed in and what he though the CIA was about, I still think he's playing James. Look, Mike withheld those drugs and still convinced James he was apart of the team and loyal to him, I think Mike seen there was really no good options in this episode for a smooth exit and Simon probably threw him off. Mike knows that James is ALL about loyalty and I think he knows coming clean was a HUGE risk but that ultimately James would dissect him in the moment and would see that Mike is "appearing" loyal to him even after admitting being with the CIA via not letting them get captured. Regardless of how lost Mike appears, and whether not Mike actually would rather be with James than the CIA he's not the type to say fuck it and let his friends and family get life in prison because that's what would happen if he sided with James and said fuck the CIA. I think mike is playing this to his advantage and he will eventually take care of shit.

If he really is siding with James, he's certainly not going to tell the CIA that he switched sides, so he'll have plenty of time to warn his real team to get themselves and Maddie out of danger. This is definitely not the first time he's played double-agent.

Meh, people are really loving Tonya so much here and while I don't dislike her, she just hasn't been around long enough. She hasn't brem through and sacrificed nearly as much to and for Mike as the rest of the team so I think it'd be pretty fucked up of Mike to say screw them and go with her.

Spoiler tags, when properly used, are for people who have not yet watched an episode that has already aired and want to be surprised. The entire thread has a spoiler tag for this reason, if anyone hasn't seen the episode they are advised not to read it.

Spoiler tags are often misused to hide fan speculation about what will happen in future episodes. Unless you're one of the shows writers, speculation is just that, you can't really give away an ending that you don't actually know is going to happen.

Will he choose his newly-formed family who embrace his dark passenger, or will Mikester side with his actual family who still hold out hope that there is a conscience within him?

Will he finally heed the impassioned pleas of the one woman who has loved and stood beside come hell or high water all these years, or will she lose Dextael forever to the alluring blonde femme fatale (who last starred in a show about spies or serial murders)?

Will Miami be laid to waste in the upcoming confrontation between Mikester and the law enforcement agency that employs him when he is revealed as the most formidable enemy they ever faced?

What fate lies ahead for the big fella in the Hawaiian shirt or Dextael's bald, olive-skinned friend?

DAMMIT... the best arch-nemesis you ever had (he played a humanoid on that one show) died from Mikester simply stabbing him in the chest after a brief struggle? Lamesauce!!!

I just caught up to this season starting from Season 6 a little more than a week ago. I really like the direction they've headed in. I like how dark it's gotten in a lot of ways, and how they're showing that the CIA is really just as bad as a lot of the people they're going after, first with Card, then with Olivia Riley, and finally with Strong and Simon. It's a great reflection of what we've learned about the CIA an NSA in real life, with the spying on Americans and Drone Strikes on civilians.

A glorified cameo that changed the way the rest of the series is going to play out, as well as changing Michael's views on the CIA. Maybe his part was short, but it was the most changing scene this season, I think. And the most important.

Ok, I have never heard either way, but what killed this series? Was it the writing? Or the fact that the Mayor of Miami sold off the place where they film the indoor scenes of the show? (The convention center)
Thoughts?

Jeffrey Donavon said in an interview the writers were starting to stretch the series. As much as I love BN and have never missed an episode, I'm glad it's ending. Seven seasons is a lot, and there really isn't more to tell.